The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee a majority of the Electoral College to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The bill would reform the Electoral College so that the electoral vote in the Electoral College reflects the choice of the nation's voters for President of the United States. more

11 Enactments

The National Popular Vote bill has been enacted into law in states possessing 165 electoral votes — 61% of the 270 electoral votes needed to activate the legislation.

In January 2009, Senator Anthony C. "Tony" Hill, Sr. introduced the National Popular Vote bill (SB 518) in the Florida State Senate, and Representative Dwayne L. Taylor introduced the bill into the House (HB 649).

A survey of 800 Florida voters conducted on January 9-10, 2009 showed 78% overall support for a national popular vote for President.
Florida poll results

On January 10, 2008, a Sarasota Herald Tribune editorial stated:

"The most compelling and practical alternative is promoted by a bipartisan group called National Popular Vote. The NPV proposal calls for legislatures to pass bills committing their state's electoral votes to the candidate who receives the most popular votes nationwide; the bill would take effect only when enacted by states that together have enough electoral votes to elect a president."
Sarasota Herald Tribune editorial

The Miami Herald editorially endorsed the National Popular Vote bill on November 5, 2008, by saying:

"Sen. Nelson wants to get rid of the Electoral College through a constitutional amendment. That, however, would require a two-thirds majority in Congress and approval of 37 state legislatures, an almost impossible political obstacle.

"Better representation

"There is another way. Four states — Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey and Maryland — already have passed bills to cast their state's electoral votes for the winner of the national popular vote. This would take effect when states with an electoral majority — 270 of the 538 electoral votes — also have passed such laws.

"Florida should join in. The sooner we are rid of the Electoral College, the more representative our democracy will be."
Miami Herald editorial

On June 14, 2007, Florida U.S. Senator Florida U.S. Senator Bill Nelson introduced a federal constitutional amendment for a national popular vote. Senator Nelson has also announced support for passage of the National Popular Vote bill by state legislatures as reported by an article in the Tampa Tribune (June 14, 2008):

Nelson acknowledged it will be difficult to achieve the constitutional amendment necessary to abolish the Electoral College, because small states will oppose it.

To "speed things along," he also recommends the move for "national popular vote" legislation in each state. According to the movement's Web site, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey and Maryland have passed it.

Under that legislation, a state agrees to give its electoral votes to the national popular vote winner, regardless of the outcome in the state.

The legislation specifies that it won't take effect until states representing a total of 270 electoral votes, a majority in the Electoral College, have passed it, agreeing to abide by the national vote. That would guarantee the national vote winner becomes president.

In 1966, Delaware Attorney General David P. Buckson filed a lawsuit on behalf of the state of Delaware against New York (and other states) concerning the use of the winner-take-all rule in presidential elections. Under the winner-take-all rule (also called the "unit rule" or "general ticket" system), all of a state's electoral votes are awarded to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in each separate state. In 1966, Delaware led a group of 12 predominantly low-population states (including North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Kentucky, Florida, Pennsylvania) in suing New York in the U.S. Supreme Court. In State of Delaware v. State of New York, the plaintiff states argued that New York's use of the winner-take-all rule effectively disenfranchised voters in their states. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case (presumably because of the well-established constitutional provision that the manner of awarding electoral votes is exclusively a state decision). Ironically, the defendant (New York) is no longer an influential closely divided battleground state (as it was in the 1960s). Today, New York suffers the very same disenfranchisement as most of the less populous states because it too has become politically non-competitive. Today, a vote in New York is equal to a vote in Delaware: votes in both are equally irrelevant in presidential elections.

Under the current system of electing the President, a candidate may win a majority of the Electoral College without having a majority of the nationwide popular vote. The National Popular Vote bill would reform the Electoral College by guaranteeing the Presidency to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and the District of Columbia). The bill would enact the proposed interstate compact entitled the "Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote." The compact would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the membership of the Electoral College (that is 270 of 538 electoral votes). Under the compact, all of the members of the Electoral College from all states belonging to the compact would be from the same political party as the winner of nationwide popular vote. Thus, the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and the District of Columbia) will be guaranteed a majority of the Electoral College, and hence the Presidency. Because the compact guarantees a majority of the Electoral College to the winner of most popular votes nationwide, the compact has the additional benefit of eliminating the possibility that a presidential election might be thrown into the U.S. House of Representatives (with each state casting one vote).

Reform the Electoral College so that the electoral vote reflects the nationwide popular vote for President